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Making a tax payment. The IRS uses the lat- est encryption technology to ensure your elec- tronic payments are safe and secure. You can make electronic payments online, by phone, and from a mobile device using the IRS2Go app. Paying electronically is quick, easy, and faster than mailing in a check or money order. Go to IRS.gov/Payments to make a payment using any of the following options. • IRS Direct Pay. Pay your individual tax bill or estimated tax payment directly from your checking or savings account at no cost to you. • Debit or credit card. Choose an approved payment processor to make a secure tax payment online, by phone, and by mobile device. Your payment will be processed by a payment processor who will charge a processing fee. The fees vary by service provider and may be tax deductible. No part of the service fee goes to the IRS. Note. You usually can’t cancel payments. You can’t make Federal Tax Deposits. You can't get an immediate release of a Fed- eral Tax Lien. • Electronic Funds Withdrawal. Offered only when filing your federal taxes using tax preparation software or through a tax pro- fessional during e-filing. • Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS®). EFTPS® is a system for pay- ing federal taxes electronically online, or by phone using the EFTPS® Voice Re- sponse System. EFTPS® is offered free by the U.S. Department of Treasury. You can use EFTPS® to make all your federal tax payments, including income, employ- ment, estimated, and excise taxes. It is the best option for businesses. Enrollment is required. You can initiate your tax payment from your home or office, 24/7. Businesses and individuals can schedule payments up to 365 days in advance. Scheduled pay- ments can be changed or canceled up to 2 business days in advance of the scheduled payment date. • Check or money order. Mail your payment to the address listed on the notice or in- structions. • Cash. If cash is your only option, you may be able to pay your taxes at a participating retail store. What if I can’t pay now? Go to IRS.gov/ Payments for more information about your op- tions. • Apply for an online payment agreement (IRS.gov/OPA) to meet your tax obligation in monthly installments if you can’t pay your taxes in full by the due date of the re- turn. For individuals to qualify for a long-term agreement, you must owe $50,000 or less in combined tax, penalties, and interest, and must have filed all re- quired returns. You may also qualify for a short-term agreement if your balance is un- der $100,000. For a business to qualify, you must owe $25,000 or less in combined tax, penalties, and interest for the current year or last year's liabilities, and must have filed all required returns. Once you com- plete the online process (in about 30 mi- nutes), you will receive immediate notifica- tion of whether your agreement has been approved. • Use the Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier (IRS.gov/OIC) to see if you can settle your tax debt for less than the full amount you owe. Note. If you are a sole proprietor or inde- pendent contractor, apply for a payment agree- ment as an individual. Checking the status of an amended return. Go to IRS.gov/WMAR, Where’s My Amended Return, to track the status of Form 1040X amended returns. Note. It can take up to 3 weeks from the date you mailed your amended return for it to show up in our system and processing it can take up to 16 weeks. Filing past due tax returns. File all tax re- turns that are due, regardless of whether or not you can pay in full. File your past due return the same way and to the same location where you would file an on-time return. If you have re- ceived a notice, make sure to send your past due return to the location indicated on the no- tice you received. If you have a past due return, filing your past due return now can help you do the following. • Avoid interest and penalties. File your past due return and pay now to limit inter- est charges and late payment penalties. • Claim a refund. You risk losing your re- fund if you don't file your return. If you are due a refund for withholding or estimated taxes, you must file your return to claim it within 3 years of the return due date. The same rule applies to a right to claim tax credits such as the EIC. We hold income tax refunds in cases where our records show that one or more income tax returns are past due. We hold them until we get the past due return or receive an accepta- ble reason for not filing a past due return. • Protect social security benefits. If you are self-employed and do not file your fed- eral income tax return, any self-employ- ment income you earned will not be repor- ted to the Social Security Administration and you will not receive credits toward so- cial security retirement or disability bene- fits. • Avoid issues obtaining loans. Loan ap- provals may be delayed if you don't file your return. Copies of filed tax returns must be submitted to financial institutions, mort- gage lenders/brokers, etc., whenever you want to buy or refinance a home, get a loan for a business, or apply for federal aid for higher education. For more information, go to Filing Past Due Tax Returns on IRS.gov. Substitute return. If you fail to file voluntarily, we may file a substitute return for you, based on income reported to the IRS. This return might not give you credit for deductions and exemp- tions you may be entitled to receive. We will send you a Notice of Deficiency CP3219N (90-day letter) proposing a tax assessment. You will have 90 days to file your past due tax return or file a petition in Tax Court. If you do neither, we will proceed with our proposed as- sessment. If you have received a Notice of Defi- ciency CP3219N, you can't request an exten- sion to file. Call us if you think you don't have to file. If any of the income listed is incorrect, you may do the following. • Contact us toll free at 866-681-4271 to let us know. • Contact the payer (source) of the income to request a corrected Form W-2 or 1099. • Attach the corrected forms when you send us your completed tax returns. If the IRS files a substitute return, it is still in your best interest to file your own tax return to take advantage of any exemptions, credits, and deductions you are entitled to receive. The IRS generally will adjust your account to reflect the correct figures. If you filed a past due return and have received a notice, you should send us a copy of the past due return to the indicated ad- dress. It takes approximately 6 weeks for us to process an accurately completed past due tax return. Understanding an IRS notice or letter. Go to IRS.gov/Notices to find additional information about responding to an IRS notice or letter. We will send you a notice or letter if any of the fol- lowing apply. • You have a balance due. • You are due a larger or smaller refund. • We have a question about your tax return. • We need to verify your identity. • We need additional information. • We changed your return. • We are notifying you of delays in process- ing your return. When you receive correspondence from us, read the entire notice or letter carefully. Typi- cally, we only need a response if you don’t agree with the information, we need additional information, or you have a balance due. If we changed your tax return, compare the informa- tion we provided in the notice or letter with the information in your original return. If we receive a return that we suspect is ID theft, we will ask you to verify your identity using the web ad- dress provided in the letter. If we ask for a response within a specific timeframe, you must respond on time to mini- mize additional interest and penalty charges or to preserve your appeal rights if you don’t agree. Pay as much as you can, even if you can’t pay the full amount you owe. You can pay online or apply for an Online Payment Agree- ment or Offer in Compromise. See What if I can’t pay now? above or visit our payments page, IRS.gov/Payments, for more information. We provide our contact phone number on the top right-hand corner of our correspond- ence. Be sure you have your tax return and any related documentation available when you call. You can also write to us at the address in the correspondence to explain why you disagree. If you write, allow at least 30 days for our re- sponse. Keep a copy of all correspondence with your tax records. Collection and enforcement actions. The return we prepare for you (our proposed as- sessment) will lead to a tax bill, which, if unpaid, will trigger the collection process. This can Chapter 13 How To Get Tax Help Page 61